Telephones and telephone calls have become ubiquitous. There are numerous types of telephones and various combinations of wired handsets, wireless handsets, wired headsets, wireless headsets and telephones which have the speaker and microphone integrated into the base unit to provide a single unitary telephone and communication set, not to mention cellular telephones and Personal digital Assistants (PDAs) having telephones built in.
One particular type of telephone call is a conference call. A conference call is a telephone call in which three or more people converse simultaneously. Many companies use conference calls as a meeting tool or to distribute information to a large number of listeners at the same time. Conference calls connect people through a conference bridge, which is essentially a server that acts like a telephone and can answer multiple calls simultaneously. Software plays a large role in whether the bridge has capabilities beyond simply connecting multiple callers. A company can have its own bridge or can contract with a service provider for conference call hosting. Providers frequently offer add-on features for conference calls, such as attendee polling, call recording and in-call operators or attendants.
The simplest phone teleconference is a three-way call, available in many homes as a service from the telephone company. Another very simple (but not necessarily effective) method is to have two groups of people talk to one another via speakerphone. The limits of three-way calling and the sound quality of speakerphones make both of these options impractical for most businesses.
Conference calls let groups of people—from a few to hundreds—communicate by phone. Banks and brokerages often use conference calls to give status reports to large numbers of listeners. Other businesses use conference calls to help coworkers communicate, plan and brainstorm.
Many phone conferencing systems require a login and personal identification number (PIN) to access the system. This helps protect confidential and proprietary information during the call. Videophones can add a visual element to conference calls, but businesses often need to share other visual information. Web conferencing allows people to communicate through text and video in addition to audio. The simplest web conferencing methods use chat and instant messaging programs to host text-based group discussions. More sophisticated programs exchange visual information with web cams and streaming video. Some allow people to share documents online.